Amanda Knox murder conviction overturned

An appeals court jury on Monday overturned the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in the killing of her roommate Meredith Kercher four years ago. NBC’s Lester Holt reports from Perugia, Italy.

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This content comes from a Full-Text Transcript of the program.

WILLIAMS:Good evening.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:The case of
Amanda Knox
always had all the requirements, the elements of focusing public attention. A grisly murder, a beautiful young
American girl
from the
Pacific Northwest
who was then held for four years in
Italy
while the
justice system
ground through various fits and starts and while millions of Americans watched back home. It all came down to today in an Italian courtroom. Millions watching
live around the world
had to wait for the translator, hoping they had heard it correctly. But the verdict in the end unmistakable. She exploded in tears when she heard it. She is free to go, free to return home to the
United States
.
Lester Holt
starts us off tonight in
Perugia
,
Italy
.
Lester
, good evening.

LESTER HOLT reporting:Brian
, good evening. This was an appeal of her
2009
conviction on six counts. On appeal, the judge and jury today threw out five of those counts; the lone remaining conviction on slander for her false accusation of a suspect early in the investigation. That, said the court, carries a three-year sentence. She's served four so she's out of prison tonight and is expected by tomorrow to leave this country a free woman. After a four-year struggle to clear her name the final verdict for
Amanda Knox
took just minutes.

Unidentified Judge:

HOLT:The 24-year-old
Seattle
native collapsed into the arms of her lawyers as her family, all gathered in the courtroom, swept each other up in their arms after the jury overturned her conviction in the
2007
murder of her British roommate
Meredith Kercher
. Her elated sister,
Deanna
, spoke to reporters afterward.

Ms. DEANNA KNOX:We're thankful that
Amanda's
nightmare is over. She suffered for four years for a crime that she did not commit.

HOLT:Cheering was heard from inside the prison where
Knox
and her former boyfriend,
Raffaele Sollecito
, who was also freed, waited during deliberations. Outside the courthouse, however, a different reaction as Italians, angry over the handling of the case, jeered the prosecutors. The stage for the dramatic decision was set earlier this morning when
Knox
stood to address the court, the final word before deliberations. Nervous and tearful at times, she declared her innocence saying she wasn't even there when it happened and if she had been she would have been killed, too. She accused the police betraying her trust in them and called
Kercher
her friend and someone she was sharing her life with. And, finally, told the court...

Ms. AMANDA KNOX:

HOLT:"I want to go back home. I want to go back to my life." Tonight,
Seattle
friends of
Knox
who came here for the verdict are anxious to see her go back home.

Mr. ANDREW SELIBER:I'm so relieved and so happy that she's out.

Ms. JESSICA NICHOLS:I'm just so grateful that they get to go back to prison for the last time and then go home.

HOLT:Also in the courtroom tonight, the family of
Kercher
who appeared emotional after the verdict. Earlier they asked the world to not forget the ultimate victim in this tragedy.

Unidentified Man #1:It's very difficult, so forgive us at this point. As I say, four years on the one hand's a very long time; on the other it's not, you know, it's still very raw.

HOLT:The case against
Knox
at times seemed to put the Italian
justice system
itself on trial, especially after critical
DNA evidence
against the pair was discredited by the court's own independent experts. But tonight legal experts here say that in the end the system worked.

Unidentified Man #2:It did vindicate itself in a certain way. I think that the
appellate court
acted in an equitable way. It gave a fair hearing to both sides and explored all the evidence.

HOLT:Less than two hours after the verdict, a car carrying
Amanda Knox
left the prison for the first leg of her journey home. So is the case over? For
Knox
, it is. The prosecution in
Italy
has the right to appeal this to the
supreme court
, but getting it accepted into the Italian
supreme court
could take weeks. In the meantime, sources close to
Knox
are telling us that she will leave as soon as tomorrow from
Rome
on her way back to
Seattle
,
Brian
.